Seating for stadiums or gymnasiums



April 1949. a. n. EASTERWOOD 2,466,982

' SEATING FOR STAD Filed Oct. 19, 1945 1w Fl PM... W4 \m A mv NW r l Q a 4 Wm N T C r w \N J I Patented Apr. 12, 1949 "in:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEATING FOR STADIUMS OR GYIVINASIUMS Birch D. Easterwood, Fort Worth, Tex. Application October 19, 1945, Serial No. 623,200

2 Claims. (Cl. 201.126)

This invention relates to seating structures for stadiums and more particularly to prefabricated seats and supporting means.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a ramp or main seat supporting fabrication of structural steel or concrete, on which is superimposed frames of prefabricated construction adapted to support boards or slabs forming seating accommodations and walkways. The arrangement is such that the seat and walk-way frames may be assembled in units at one point for parallel disposition on the inclined sub-structure at another point, thus minimizing the time and 1abor usually required to install individual seats in a stadium or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide seat frame assemblies, each consisting of an elongated anchoring plate on which the frames are affixed in spaced relationship as by Welding or other means so that the seat and sub-frames will lie on a horizontal plane in'rela'tion to the predetermined angular plane of the sub-structure. Moreover, provision is made in each seat and sub-frame for slidably receiving and retaining boards or slabs as seats and walk-ways with-' out requiring nails, bolts or other fastening means.

Still another object of the invention is to provide equipment for washing the sub-structure,

in the case of concrete, of refuse left by a crowd, and a gutter for receiving and disposing of such refuse by sluicing the gutter.

With the foregoing objects as paramount, the invention has further reference to certain features of accomplishment which will become apparent as the description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary elevational Viewin vertical section of a seating arrangement for stadiums, constructed according to the presentinthe drawing, reference is primarily made to Figures 1 and 2 in which the ramp or sub-structure I0 is constructed of concrete, as are the reinforcing beams l l The upper surface of the ramp is smooth and without openings of any kind insofar as the seating area thereof is concerned.

At the foot of the ramp l0 there is constructed a gutter l2, also of concrete over which is disposed a grating l3, over which persons may walk in entering and leaving the aisles flanking the seating areas. At the top of the ramp Ill and as exemplified in Figure 2, a horizontal walk-way I4 is provided, at the edge of which is constructed a vertical wall l5.

Extending the length of the wall [5 or, in other words, the width of the ramp I0, is a pipe I6 having perforations I! therein. One end of this pipe is closed and its opposite end is connected to a source of water supply and by suitable valve means, not shown, water may be released into the pipe to emerge through the apertures therein and flow downwardly over the ramp I0, carrying with it all refuse deposited on the ramp by spectators, into the gutter l2 and subsequently disposed of by sluicing the latter.

However, chief among the features of the present invention is the novel seating arrangement,

its construction and mode of mounting the same on the ramp Ill. The seating arrangement has been and will be hereinafter described as consisting of seat assemblies, each being comprised of an anchoring plate 18 and a plurality of longitudinally spaced seat and sub-frames. The seat and sub-frames each consist of an upright 19, the foot 20 of which is bent into a plane paralleling that of the anchoring lplate l8 and to which "it is aflixed, preferably by welding. The upper portion 2| of the upright is bent at right angles thereto and serves as a support for a board or slab 22, whose edges are longitudinally grooved at a.

An angular brace 23 extends between the up-- right [9, adjacent its lower end and the forward end of the seat supporting portion 2| thereof and is weld-ed or otherwise secured at both ends; however, the upper extremity of the brace 23 is bent upwardly and inwardly to form a tongue 24 which enters the groove 11 in the front edge of the board or slab 22, thus retaining it in cooperation with a confronting tongue 25, on a bracket member 26, bolted or otherwise afl'lxed to the upright 19 and extending slightly above the top thereof. By virtue of the retaining tongues 24 and 25, the seat 22 is held against lateral displacementalthough it may he slid longitudinally,

which is the method employed to install the same in the described frames, which latter are spaced both laterally and longitudinally on the ram 10.

To provide a Walk-way between the seats 22, a sub-frame is provided, consisting of a horizontal support 21, welded to the upright l9 intermediate its ends and extending rearwardly and is bent downwardly and at an angle to define a foot 28 which parallels the anchoring plate 18 and is affixedztheretoas by welding. The end of the support 21 nextadjacent to the upright I9 is turned outwardly to define a tongue 29 which enters a groove b in a board or slab 30 to retain the latter, in cooperation with a confronting tongue 3| on a bracket 32,bolted or otherwise secured to the opposite end of:the -;support :21, as shown in Figure 1. It isobvious that the tongues 29 and 3| hold the board or slab 30 against other than longitudinal displacement :as in the case of the seat 22.

From. the foregoing, it; is readily apparent that the seat assembliesmay bev conveniently andeconomically prefabricatedat the .place of manufacture according .to specifications prescribing the constructioniand .angularity of the support on which they areto bepermanently mounted, i. e., the ramp. l0, Subsequent workof setting up and anchoring uthetseat assemblies becomes a minorand inexpensive task which may be per- .formed by unskilled. labor.

Inasmuch as the strlucture illustrated in Figures 3 aud t differs from that just described only :in the sub-str.ucture,.the:same characters of reference are used to indicate like parts except for thesaidsub-structure, which consists of I-beams -33 or otherstructural steel forms, serving as the main. support and these, in turn, are supported on columns 34 of the same general design. Any accepted practice in bracing the beams 33, such of sub-structureth anchoring plate referred to inthe preceding description. as l 8, is unnecessary in the modified form :since the :seat and subframes-may be secured directly to the beams 33, as by welding or otherwise, and the entireassem- 'bly, including the beams,-may be fabricated at the pointof'manufacture and subsequently installed at the stadium-at the desired angle, thus saving much time and :expense otherwise con- .su-med at; the pointof installation.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modification, and such ..modification as :may be construed to fall within the-scope and meaningof the-appended claims is also considered .to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

I. -A seating arrangement for a stadium and the like including an inclined supporting strucof and whose upper end isdisposed' to'define a "tongue-above and in a plane parallel with said horizontal portion, a bracket on the opposite end of said horizontal portion having a tongue confrontingsthat of .said brace, an elongated seat supported for longitudinal sliding displacement on.-.said horizontal portion, a sub-frame on each of said uprights below the horizontal portion thereof having a return flange on its forward end, azfootaon its rear end parallel with and aflixed to said anchoring plate, a bracket affixed to the rear endof said subeframe whose upper end is rdisposed in parallelism with said sub-frame and in confronting relationship-with the return flange thereof-to define atongue and an elongated walkway havinggrooved edges slidably received by the return .flange of said sub-frame and the tongue of said latter :bracket.

2. A seat-supporting structure including an inclined sub-structure and a plurality of seat .assemblies corresponding-to the inclination ofsaid sub-structure, .each .of said assemblies having. in

dividual seat and walk-way supporting frames,

the former comprisingzan upright whose upper .portion-isdisposed in a horizontal plane to define a seat support, an angular bracket-extending from-saidiupright to the forwardtend of said seat supportan-dhavi-nga tongue formed thereon above-saidseat support, abracket on the oppositeend of said-seat support, having a tongue confronting said first tongue, .a sub-frame on said uprightbelow said seat support having areturn-flange thereondefining a tongue, a bracket on the rearend of said sub-frame having a tongue in confronting relationship with that .of -said sub-framaan elongatedsseat disposed on said seat-support having grooved edges for slid- .ably receivingthe tongues on opposite sides of said support and an elongated walk-way supported on said lsub-framehaving grooved edges for. receiving. the tongues at-each ,end of the latter.

BIRCH .D. EASTERWOOD.

. REFERENCES CITED The foliow-ing referencesare of recordin the file of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number :Name Date 1,746,147 Duke Feb. 4, 1930 1,766,316 Nance -June 24, 1930 

